A Legend meets a Mall Rat
hm......shopping time! *Becka abruptly comes out of her room, gleefully running along the hall way to Toshi's room- the only path in the whole place she's memorized, knocking on the door* Tooooooooooooshii! ya there?? let's go shoppin'! sorry I went without ya last time, but I couldn’t find ya! though it was really fun- ya missed a really cute guy- hey, Toshi, ya in there? *stops her mile-a-minute chattering to listen* ...toshi?? hrm.....not again...shopping alone's so DULL....
*He’s some distance away, but his ever-acute cyber hearing picks the name up easily enough… Toshi. Toshi? Who was calling for his girl? He takes a few neat turns through the hallways, strides down a corridor or two, and peeks around a corner. He blinks at the figure, computer-mind rushing though files. ….Ah, okay, a rookie. Newcomer. And a loud one. He steps out from behind the corner and coughs slightly* Toshi ain’t there. She’s training. *He’s in full gear, face covered by his mask, uniform on, warpole strapped to his thigh. Other than that, he’s fairly casual*
Really? *turns to look- and while she raises an eyebrow, she doesn't say much about the uniform, beyond* nice fashion statement. *sighs tragically* guess I'll hafta put off that trip to Lumiarian's- they had some jeans there she'll probably love- and I KNOW she won't go there alone. oh, well- thanks for the news! maybe I can catch up with her tomorrow! *tone bright and happy- a regular bucket of ready made cheer*
Isn’t it tho. *he states it dryly, now leaning against the edge of the wall and folding his arms over his broad chest. A bucket of ready made cheer… /indeed/. Under his mask, Pole makes a face. Sickening* You been taking her out? To shop? *his tone is ambiguous, hard to tell if he’s pleased, displeased, or just slightly surprised*
Yup! havin' a grand old time of it too! *checking to make sure she's all ready to go out.* purse..check...wallet...check...plastic money giver...check...*looks back up at pole* she's a pretty fun girl to hang out with once she gets ta know ya! we had a riot in onna the restaurants- she had that waiter SOOOO red! *snickers*
She’s a wonderful girl, I know… *Pole straightens and walks closer, analyzing as he goes, making what was in the files match-up, store it away, sight seen. Power levels, spectrums, scent analysis, heck, even the amount of white blood cells her bone marrow produces… all sought out, x-rayed, dissected, and filed* And what exactly did she do to make the waiter so red? *Pole shakes his head inwardly… he’d have to find more time to spend with Toshi. She hadn’t told him of this*
*trying to use those things is hard on TS at best. Not /impossible/- but the counts and readings seem to shift rapidly and contradict itself- her natural time field proving as disruptive as always. she was one of those 'hard on the equipment' types.* wonderful? hoo- what an understatement! she's the first- and BEST friend I made here! *almost as if /daring/ him to say Toshi isn't so amazing and great and what not.* oh- and she decided to inform him she was /well/ aware of what he was muttering at us when he was supposed to be serving us- and rubbed it in by responding to all his questions in PERFECT french. Girl's got a great sense of humor! *pouts a bit* I was hoping to take her on another li'l outtin'- but it looks like the daily grind's caught up with her. feh. *TS works as hard as anyone else- but this girl LOVES her fun outside of necessary training and hunting.*
*…..And Pole notices that. The regular stuff wasn’t working, the usual system. It throws him off till he recalls the files and her unnatural gift, the fluctuations. He sighs inwardly, gets what he can (old habit), and then turns it off before it screws with his optics too much, gives him a headache. He doesn’t, of course, argue Becka’s points on Toshi, he wholeheartedly agrees, even though he feels the /tiniest/ twinge of… what was that? Jealousy? Hell no, Pole was too proud to feel /that/…. So call it pique, perhaps* You keep with her. Ain’t no better friend you could find. *he nods then narrows his eyes into white slits* And what was he /saying/?? *being a man, he knows all men are pigs, and automatically assumes the worse, which would be a sad state of affairs for the waiter if Pole ever got his hands on him* Outtin’s are good… she needs to make friends, go out. Learn to deal with others. S’good for her.
*looks at him curiously- then waves her hand idly* bah- just bein' a snotty french-fry about having Americans in his restaurant. *snickers* Toshi set 'im straight! *leans against the wall, head cocked, now giving him a curious look* ya must be warpole. So far as /I/ know Toshi only hangs out with two people. heh- I'd take her out with me more often- but I've got HORRID luck on catchin' up with her. at lest I finally figured out how to find her room. *back home...her lack of directional sense had been LEGENDARY. and it was fast becoming so here too...*
*Pole relaxes a clenched fist he hadn’t realized he’d been holding as soon as Becka admits to the kind of snide remarks the bastard waiter had been making. It surprises him a little, the automatic response he’d given to hearing anyone would offend Toshi. Or try to. It worries him a bit… his feelings could be quite dangerous and used against him if --- he shakes it off for now. Time to worry about that later. Besides, she’d taken care of herself* Yeah, yeah that’s me. WarPole. Pole fer short. And she can be hard to find… least she’s outta her cell now. *it wasn’t a bad cell, just one to help /her/ out, keep her from morphing into anyone and anything she touched. One reason she and Pole became such good friends, she couldn’t assimilate to his cybernetics. A touch of amusement enters his voice* you know, maybe we can scrounge you up a map if yer having that much trouble.
*she blinks a bit at his reaction- then even more at the thought of Toshi in a cell.* damn...no wonder she's so crowd shy...*a bit sheepish now. but toshi had handled it well! hell- she'd ENJOYED herself- though TS's own off the wall antics probably had TONS to do with /that/.* hey, I finally guessed a person right!- though I suppose it's an unfair advantage since yer the only other person she talks about. *course- she HAS heard of him from others- but he didn't seem too bad to her. Overdressed maybe- and that mask wasn't helping his looks- but oh well. to each their own. she ran around in a damned swim suit after all when fighting...not that she minded...* weeeeellll....we've tried the map route and well...*pulls out a piece of paper that looks OLD and weathered* it just didn't hold up so well with me, y'know??
*Pole sighs and waves a hand, unfolding it for a moment from their crossed position as he pauses not too far from the girl, carefully looking her over with regular eyes, since she messes up his cyber-optics so badly* Yeah… yeah, she has her reasons for being crowd-shy. Very good ones, too. But if I told you what they were, I’d have to kill you. *he says it flatly, and whether he’s joking or not is near impossible to discern. But surely, he is… then he chuckles, a low rumble in the quiet hallway* Does she now? *he seems pleased with this information, that Toshi speaks of him. Then he blinks again at the state of the map, looking back at her face with widened white eyes* Is that cuz you ran it thru a washing machine, or… that crazy fluctuation thing I see when I look at you with my cybers?
*she shrugs flippantly enough- joke or not, like she's about to ask! if Toshi wants her to know TOSHI will tell her. not Warpole.* eh- all I'm concerned about is having a friend- if she wants to tell me anythin' about her- she will. if not- well, I ain't got no right to pry. She doesn't ask about my life, I dun't ask about hers. *Getting Becka to talk about her childhood is almost impossible. it's the only time she becomes closed mouthed and sullen. a very different person. It never lasts long though- those not spared her daily antics occasionally wish it /would/.* Heh- mainly insisting you aren't the evil ogre from the lower depths of hell come to devour new recruits and transfers in their sleep. *dryly* Thus far- m'inclined ta agree with her. don't smell no brimstone, see any horns, or hear hooves when ya walk. *as he speaks about the map..it crinkles suddenly and simply disintegrates* wow..cheap paper...ah- well- I make a time field...and some things just don't hold up...I mean, my standard field gear /always/ has to be replaced every time I head out on a mission. *meaning when going 'mundane'- she's usually without it. if she carries it on her too long, it'll get all kinds of screwed up* that thing just /wasn't/ very good quality..the last one made it to 10 years! well..to it..
You’ll get far with that kinda attitude. *he nods in approval for her ability not to pry. Most unnaturals, it seemed, had pasts they didn’t want to speak about, and while Pole was not unnatural, but natural by birth, he was no exception. Only the most classified files held what he refuses to tell anyone, or even, really, what he refuses to remember. Then a brow arches, even under the mask its noticeable, and that changes quickly into a deep scowl* Don’t you listen to her! I worked damn f#$kin’ hard for that reputation, and I stick by it. I can get the docs here to attach horns and cloven hooves, and don’t you think otherwise! As fer the brimstone, hells, just gimme one o’them bean burritos, and see if you don’t think I’m Satan afterwards… *he pauses, listens to her explanation, and shakes his head ruefully* Yer like Toshi then. She’s hard on the equipment too. But I got yer file on record, I know what you can do. Not bad… we don’t get many unnaturals who’s talents rule over the time continuum or anything. Rare and precious.
*shrugs* hey- pry unto others only if ya want 'em pryin' unto you, eh? *quirks an eyebrow at his outburst* hoo- down! I'm an atheist meself, or mebbe I woulda believed a few of those rumors! tsk- and I think I'll pass on the bean burritos. *wrinkling her nose a bit* no need to kill the whole building to prove a point, and those things'll do it in anyone-especially if I put my hot sauce on 'em. *she personally loved her hotsauce. everyone else…well...they were usually too busy eating bread and giving her death looks to comment. Must be those Aztec peppers..* heh- she told me that when we met up. I'd say she was /thrilled/ to hear she wasn't the only one who had the techs blowing a few gaskets. *quirks an eyebrow at that records bit* oh, so they remembered to get my records, but still forgot to send someone ta pick me up? real organized people here. ah, well! and my powers are a total pain...*hasta use forks and other silverware for pretty much everything- and straws for her drinks. or they'll spoil, get cold, or go flat before she can enjoy them.* but I guess they come in useful durin' particular things…*smirks just a bit* rule over the continuum? naaah- more like kicked around by it. *she's /never/ held a high opinion of her powers. She'll sooner trust her weapons.*
No one picked you up? *he cocks his head at her for a moment* No one picked you up. They sent you regular flight status? Didn’t you have a private plane, something? *He liked her little saying about prying, and he decides not to go into further detail about the burritos, but only because this bit of information catches him off-guard* I’ll have to try yer hot sauce sometime… *Pole likes hot and spicy foods, and it sounds intriguing, then he grinned* Poor Toshi. Yeah, I’m sure she was thrilled she wasn’t the only one costing the GUARD a fortune every few days or so. And I’ve heard everyone say their powers were curses… and gifts. Depending, you know? I came in on time, on the flight I was supposed to…and waited....and waited…until I finally got fed up and got myself here. *won't go into the details of THAT little adventure. *really annoyed the living daylights outta me. for once, I was on time and THEY were late! *sounding a bit cross* I hadda point out to the office tech that he was looking at the wrong day. *sighs* he hadda be a new one…really...I was keeping a close watch on the time- using any clock and what not that I /hadn't/ touched. *which had been a pain and a half..* heh- I've got a jar of it in my room. if it doesn't kill ya, it'll make ya fire proof. *snickers* I usually sneak some onto my friends' cheeseburgers back in the US...*normally when they pissed her off...* well- enough about how I tried to assassinate those semi-jerks...*grins a bit sheepish* eh heh...well...at least she doesn't ages the parts beyond use...*tapping her fingers together* it's a lot easier to age something than it is to unage...so when I break something that bad...it stays that way. can't even be recycled. they /really/ loaathe me. *grimaces some* I'm inclined to say curse. When I can't touch a pepsi without it goin' flat in five minutes, or my coffee without it going bone cold in two- it's a /curse/. I /need/ my caffeine in the morning!
*Pole blinks. This girl had a definitely endless source of things to prattle on about. Did she ever breathe?? He /tries/ to answer her, but every time he opens his mouth to say something, she’s already going off on something else, and its not easy to see his mouth when its covered by a mask. He heaves a sigh, swings his weight onto one metal hip, folds his arms, and just…. Stares at her until she’s done, saying nothing. Finally, when cries out her need for caffeine, he bluntly and dully answers* So drink iced mochas.
*shrugs* then they get warm! *hears someone shouting for her* whoops- looks like Trixy found me..well, guess I gotta go- OH! if you wana try that hot sauce, it's on my dresser. just ask the office techs were my room is- they know better than me! *the call comes again- another girl dashing around the corner- and freezing when she sees warpole. she gulps a bit- then latches onto Becka* now we KNOW you're nuts, Leelee! {TS} don't call me that!! {Trixy} let's get outta here!! {TS} hey- ow! don't pull my hair- aiee- leave my arm attached! *as she's hauled off quickly down the hallway, yelling* TRIIIIIIXIYYYYYYYYYY! i'll make you an odl woman for thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis! *More sounds of random chaos greet the girls' sudden and hasty departure from the building, muffled cries of 'do you know who you were talking to?!' punctuating every other word of Becka's now wackier insistances of being let go..*
*he nods and gives a half-hearted wave to the girls as they leave in a rather painful manner… painful to Becka anyway. Then his brows raise and he spins on his heel, going back the way he’d come, shaking his head* Some people’s kids….